A 2:55am alarm this morning so that I could shower and be ready for 3:45am. Ouch. By 4am we were waiting on the side of the road a little way from the hotel, in order to meet the bus that would take us to Costa Rica's capital, San Jose. As soon as we were comfortably on the bus I fell asleep (thank goodness for my inflatable pillow) - even with episodes of Once Upon a Time to watch on my netbook. I only managed about 20 minutes of one.
With one stop along the way, we arrived at San Jose bus terminal and got straight into taxis, arriving at our hotel mid-morning. It's very pretty - an old wooden building with lots of original features, like the wooden railings around the first floor balcony leading off to the different rooms, and the tiled floor in the lobby.
Natasha, Rose and I headed out in the direction of the city centre and found that what the guide books say is true: San Jose isn't particularly appealing and there doesn't seem to be much to do here. Lots of high street-type shops - different to the ones at home, but the experience is the same - and fast food chains, with the odd restaurant dotted in between. We walked along Avenida Centrale and ended up splitting for lunch so the girls could go to KFC and I could eat at Vishnu, a sort of vegetarian fast food chain. A huge soy patty burger with cheese and salad and chips and a blackberry smoothie - that ought to see me through another few rounds of vegetables for tea.
We met back up and I announced my plan to see a film and then possibly visit the Contemporary Art museum. We walked to where one of the cinemas was on the map but found it looking almost abandoned, with nearly two hours to go until its only showing of the day. Instead we got a taxi to a nearby shopping mall called San Pedro, which scuppered the chances of going to the art museum but proved to be a good decision because the cinema was much nicer, like the ones at home.
For just under two pounds we saw Total Recall (the remake, with Colin Farrell). The girls weren't impressed but I didn't mind it, and I had a lovely ice cream. Afterwards, though, I started feeling ill. My stomach had been stirring since the night before and it was at its worst just after the film - really painful. I guess I've done well to make it to my fourth trip before getting ill! 
I bought a sparkly flowery ring to cheer myself up and we took a taxi back to the hotel. My stomach was still very sore, but I still managed to shower and go to tea. Our briefing meeting had been cancelled since none of the six new arrivals had checked into the hotel yet, so we met at 7 in the hotel restaurant instead. Just before going down, Ray and Barbara arrived. They're an English couple from Devon (I'm not the only Brit anymore!) and both seem lovely.
The hotel didn't offer anything vegetarian, so they kind of cobbled two salads together minus the meat - and charged me nearly a tenner for the pleasure, what a rip off. It wasn't that nice either. Never mind. During the meal Laura, from Texas, arrived. She seems really nice as well. I'm glad our group is growing.
I went to bed to watch things on my netbook, and slept on and off, but unfortunately stomach pains kept me up through the night. Oh dear. Hopefully better soon.
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